Confederation of Britain and Northern Ireland
The Great British Confederation (commonly Great Britain or the British Confederation) is a sovereign island state located in the Atlantic Ocean across the English Channel from France and Belgium. The Great British Confederation has numerous overseas territories located in the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. Despite its various land holdings and claims around the world, the Great British Confederation's main societal, economic, and political institutions are located in the British Isles. Great Britain is a confederation of seven governments under a common legal and rights system, military, and foreign and home affairs system. The Confederation is collectively a democracy operating under seven regional governments bound by a common code of law. The Great British Confederation was established by an Act of Parliament three months after Bloody Sunday and two months after the British Invasion of Ireland. The nation has since then established national peace from civil unrest with the new confederation system, though the population's ability to see itself as one nation rather than a collection of eight has been hindered. The Confederation is ranked highly in democracy, freedom, and rights. Great Britain's economy is a developed one, being the starting point of the industrial revolution it was the first to be classified as an "industrialized nation." The nation's long and intricate history of colonization and imperialism has given way to massive foreign connections, especially with Canada, India, South Africa, and Australia. Great Britain's national economy is somewhat stable, and a common currency, the Pound Sterling, is the third most traded currency in the world. Due to its high level of euroscepticism, the Confederation is not expected to join the European Union or the Eurozone in its current economic situation. The nation is highly indexed in human development and wealth distribution, though most regional governments are socialist in most of their economic affairs. Great Britain is a member of the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and co-Development, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and it is also an observer of the European Council. The nation also maintains diplomatic relations with over 190 countries around the globe. History British-Irish War and Confederation On January 30th, 1972, in Derry, Northern Ireland, members of the British Army's Parachute Regiment fired on Northern Ireland protesters, killing thirteen and injuring 14 more. The event greatly increased the popularity of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, and significantly strained British relations with the Republic of Ireland. Two days later on February 1st, 1972, Irish general David O'Hughs launched a coup d'etat that overtook the nation within two weeks. General President O'Hughs was highly critical of the United Kingdom, and a strong Irish-unionist supporter of Northern Ireland. The General President called for proper retaliation by the international community on the United Kingdom. However, the United Nations declared the takeover of O'Hughs to be illegal, and rejected the membership of Ireland so long as O'Hughs remained in power. Enraged at the United Nations, O'Hughs launched the Invasion of Northern Ireland on February 17th, 1972, in an attempt to take the region by military power. The Irish Republican Army and the Irish Army quickly took control of the region, and had imprisoned members of the pro-British government by February 28th. The United Kingdom declared war on the Republic of Ireland, and created a naval blockade that successfully cut off Ireland entirely by sea. With the entire island of Ireland cut off, the United Kingdom then launched the Invasion of Ireland. The invasion lasted from March 2nd to March 7th before all Irish forces on the island surrendered to the British. O'Hughs committed suicide soon after the fighting in Dublin ended, but many high ranking officials in the Irish Army and the Irish Republican Army were captured. The Treaty of Swansea was signed between Ireland and the United Kingdom on March 9th, 1972, ending fighting and allowing for a British occupation of Ireland. Sporadic fighting continued from the 9th to the 27th, when the last cell of resistance was destroyed near Tobercurry. British occupation was centered around the integration of Ireland as a whole into the United Kingdom. Many groups in Ireland, and several even on the island of Great Britain, opposed the integration of Ireland into the Union. As the occupation was prolonged by civilian protests against British integration, similar anti-Union protests took place in Scotland and Wales calling for the disbandment of the United Kingdom. On April 14th, 1972, Queen Elizabeth II called for a meeting of representatives from all British countries, including Ireland, at Westminster Palace. At the meeting, publicly chosen representatives of Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland met over the state of the United Kingdom as a single entity. The Irish and Scottish representatives called for the disbandment of the United Kingdom, while the Welsh and English representatives called for a resolution between the countries to solve the problem without causing economic and political hardships on their separate countries. The debates lasted two days before all representatives met a resolution to become a confederation of semi-independent nations under a single military, common law system, and foreign affairs system. The Parliament approved the resolution as the last Act of Parliament, and Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Assent the same day. Civil War and Restructuring On May 4th, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected the Prime Minister of England as a member of the Conservative Party. Thatcher had strongly opposed the confederation, and had adopted a Unionist stance which was supported by most Englishmen. While the English supported a strong Union under a single, powerful government, the other countries of the Confederation had achieved political and economic stability through diplomatic cooperation. Wales, Scotland, and Ireland all strongly opposed a unitary government that would be similar to the pre-1972 government; England, on the other hand, strongly supported a large, unitary government under a single monarch and single parliament. With Thatcher's election, she called for England to rise again as it had done in the past, and incited England-based Unionist organizations to carry out attacks against the Scottish, Welsh, and Irish governments. The most significant of these attacks was the Holyrood Palace bombing, which resulted in the death of Princess Gwen of Scotland and sixty-seven Palace workers. The Holyrood bombing, combined with multiple other attacks on Welsh and Irish civilians and their governments, sparked massive civil unrest and counter attacks on England by the parties originally attacked. Without the cooperation of the four governments of the Confederation, the military was split regionally and unable to function normally: equipment in Scotland was taken by the Scottish government and such as. Without a military to restore national order, the Second British Civil War broke out with the first major offensive moves made by the English government. After four years of chaotic degradation, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland defeated the English government at the Second Battle of Westminster. The White Tower Resolutions were signed between the Welsh, Scottish, and Irish and the remaining English government. The Resolutions restructured the nation's political system in such a way that another Civil War would be successfully quelled by the military. Aside from this, three more regional governments were granted Confederation status; the Isle of Mann, the Channel Islands, and the Collective Overseas Territories. The Falkland Islands were ceded to Argentina, and remaining African colonies were granted independence. A new national common law system was also created to insure that the governments of countries inside the Confederation did not violate the rights of their people and their fellow countries. The new system was stabilized in 1984, effectively ending the period of civil unrest known as the Second British Civil War. Category:Great British Confederation Category:Candidate Future World Category:Nations